Uniform cap with separable crown



B. WEINSTEIN .umom m WITH SEPARABLE CROWN Filed March 27, 1956 July 29,1958

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 29, 1958 B. WEINSTEIN UNIFORM CAP WITH SEPARABLE CROWN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 27, 1956 United States Patent 07 UNIFORM CAP wrru SEPARABLE CROWN Bernard Weinstein, Waban, Mass., assignor to Bancroft Cap Company, Framingham, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application March 27, 1956, Serial No. 574,146

4 Claims. or. z 19s This invention relates to uniform caps, and more particularly to caps of the type having a stiff band and a soft crown which is removable for cleaning.

Caps with removable crowns which have been used heretofore have ordinarily been provided with a soft outer band which is attached to the crown and fits over the stiff headband of the cap body. The band to which the crown is attached is ordinarily secured to the headband by a pair of buttons or studs, one on either side of the cap. The outer band in this arrangement tends to ride up at the back, even if fitted tightly and this condition becomes worse if the band stretches with wear.

The object of this invention is to provide a cap construction in which the crown is readily removable from the headband for cleaning but yet remains firmly in place on the headband when the cap is worn. Other objects are to provide a construction in which the crown may vary in size to some extent without becoming loose, and in which the crown may be turned inside out and attached in that manner to the headband when desired. The cap here disclosed consists in general of a cap body having a stiff headband, to the upper edge of which a projecting bead is attached, and a crown having a lower rim which fits under the bead.

In the drawings illustrating the invention:

Fig. 1 is a side view of one form of the assembled cap;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the cap body;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross-section, somewhat enlarged, taken along line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the strip which is attached to the headband to form the projecting bead;

Fig. 5 is a side view of another form of the cap;

Fig. 6 is a top view of the body or frame of the cap of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary cross-section, somewhat enlarged, taken along line 77 of Fig. 5.

The frame or body part of the cap, as illustrated in Figs. 1-3 may be constructed according to the usual manner for a uniform cap, with a headband 10 which may consist of an inner layer 11 of stiff material, and a decorative outer layer 12 of braid or any other desired material, a sweat band 13 attached to the headband :at the bottom, and a vizor 14 attached to the band at the front. The cap may have a strap 15 running across the front and studs or buttons 16 at the side, and may also be provided with a stay 17.

Attached around the upper edge of the headband is a plastic strip 20. As shown in Fig. 4, this strip is made in the form of an inverted channel, having depending legs 21and 22, with a bead 23 projecting sidewise along one side at the top. The strip is made, preferably by extrusion, of a plastic such as nylon which is fairly stilt and tough, but flexible enough to allow the strip to be bent on a curve for attachment to the head band. Preferably the strip is originally extruded in somewhat bowed formed so that it can be fitted to the headband more easily. As shown in Fig. 3, the strip is fitted down over the upper edges of the band layers 11 and 12, with Patented July 29, 1958 leg 21 on the inside and leg 22 and bead 23 on the outside, and is secured by a line of stitching 24 passing through both legs and both. layers of the band. The strip thus serves as a binding for the upper edge of the band, as well as stiffening the band.

The crown, generally indicated by the numeral 26, is made of cloth or other suitable soft material and may consist of two layers, an inner layer 27 and an outer layer 28. The crown is shaped by means of the usual darts 29, and has a binding 30 around its lower margin 26a. The crown is shaped so that its lower edge fits fairly tighly around the outside of the band 10 and, in addition, the binding 30 may be a piece of elastic sewn to the crown under tension. Margin 26a and the binding 30 are turned upward and fit under the bead 23, when the crown is in place on the cap body, as shown in Fig. 3. The crown is thus firmly held in place all around the sides and back, and the crown will not ride up off the band under direct pull when the cap is worn. The crown can be readily removed by slightly springing the band and bead inward at one point and slipping the margin of the crown up over the bead. As soon as a part of the margin is thus freed, the rest can be slid ofi easily.

As shown in Fig. 2, when the cap is provided with a stay for the attachment of insignia, the strip 20 stops at either side of the stay. The front of the crown will be held in place by the insignia 31 which is provided with the usual studs inserted through the crown and stay. If no stay or insignia are used on the cap, the strip 20 may be continued around the front of the headband.

The crown, in this form of cap, may be made of a single layer of cloth cut as one piece, or formed from several panels. This arrangement also lends itself readily to the construction of a reversible crown made of two layers shaped alike, with their seams turned inward. The layers might be of different colors, for example, so that the appearance of the cap can be changed by removing the crown, turning it inside out, and replacing it on the band- One layer may also be made of waterproof material, or some material having special desired characteristics. In a policemans hat, for example, layer 28 may be made of cloth to match the uniform and used for day wear, and

layer 27 may be made of material which fiuoresces in frame consisting of a band 10, a sweat band 13, and a vizor 14. A pair of studs or buttons 16 may be mounted on the sides'of the band. The plastic strip 20 with the bead 23 is attached to the upper edge of the band. The frame shown in Fig. 6 has a grommet 33 and a crown shield 34 attached in front to the stay 17, and these parts may also be used on the frame to which the crown of Figs. 1-3 is attached. The crown shown in Figs. 5 and 7 is made of a top panel 35 joined to a side panel 36, but it is understood that the crown may be made of a single piece shaped by darts or constructed in any customary manner. In this form of cap, an outer band 37, which may be made of braid, of the same material as the crown, or of any other suitable material, according to the decorative elfect desired, is attached to the crown. The lower margin 36a of the crown is turned up and laid alongside the upper margin 37a of the outer band, and the two are joined together in a binding 38 secured by a line of stitching 39.

The binding 38 fits tightly to the headband 10 and may be tend to the bottom of headband 10, or the headband 10 may have a decorative binding with band 37 extending down only to the top of the binding.

The form of crown shown in Figs. 5 and 7 is removed from the frame in much the same manner as'thtatshown in Figs. 1 to 3, except that the buttons or studs16, if any, have to be disengaged from band 37. When this crown is in place on the frame, the engagement of margins 36a and 3711 under the bead 23 prevents the crown and band 37 from riding up, so that the lower edge of band 37 stays even with respect to binding 41, and the cap has a neat and finished appearance when worn.

The strip 20 is preferably extruded in somewhat bowed form, as previously explained, and bead 23 slopes slightly downward. When the strip is bent further to fit the headband, bead 23 is sprung to project straight out. The bead is made-wide enough so thatsome variation in the size of the lower margin of the crown can be accommodated. For example, if the binding of the lower margin is not elasticized, it may be desirable to make the margin a little loose on the headband at first to allow for shrinkage of the crown in washing or cleaning. On the other hand, an elasticized binding is likely to stretch after repeated cleaning. A bead about one-eighth of an inch to onequarter of an inch wide will accommodate ordinary variations in the size of the crown margin without forming a conspicuous ridge around the bottom of the crown.

What is claimed is: a

1. A unform cap comprising a relatively stiff headband adapted to encircle a wearers head and having an upper edge, a strip having an inverted channel-shaped portion with depending legs and having a relatively stifi bead projecting-sidewise from said channel-shaped portion, said .4 strip being mounted on said upper edge with one said leg'secured inside and another said leg secured outside the headband and said bead projecting outward from the headband, and a crown having a lower margin closely surrounding the outside of said headband and engaged under said bead, said crown being removable from said headband and retained thereon by engagement of said margin with said bead, and said headband being capable of limited fiexure to permit said margin to be slid up over said bead thereby permitting removal of the crown from the headband.

2. A cap as described in claim 1, said legs and bead being formed as an integral strip, and said strip being secured to the headband by stitching passing through the legs and the headband.

3. A cap as described in claim 1, said crown terminating at said margin and the headband being exposed below said margin.

4. A cap as described in claim 1, having an outer band attached to said margin and removably surrounding said headband.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 259,521 Frankenberg June 13, 1882 563,175 Hirschberg June 30, 1896' 873,122 Forman Dec. 10, 1907 1,818,754 Silverstein Aug. 11, 1931 2,445,230 Mattsson et al. July 13, .1948 2,616,092 Berg Nov. 4, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 648,120 Germany July 1, 1937 

